What Do You Want?

I've asked a lot of people the question: What would you do if you woke up tomorrow with $50 million?

It's an interesting exercise to really get at the core of what we're doing all this for. What's been most surprising to me isn’t the trips people would take, the things they’d buy, or the gifts they’d give. Instead, many of them say they would choose to invest.

Now, on its own, choosing to invest seems like a sensible idea. But the whole point of the exercise is that you wouldn’t need to invest anymore. I mean, you could spend a million dollars a year for the rest of your life with that much money. Unless you’re trying to invest for something even bigger – which most people don’t dream that big about. When I have this conversation, people often say, "Oh, I’d take a trip around the world for two weeks." Great, but now you’ve got $49.5 million left. What are you going to do with that?

Many people seem uncertain about what they truly want. For instance, when I ask people when they want to retire, they often default to saying, “65.” When I ask why, the answer is usually, “Isn’t that when everyone retires?” They haven’t really thought about their own reasons or personal goals. People often make choices, like buying a nicer car, because it feels good at the moment, but they don’t consider whether these things truly improve their lives. When they don’t have a clear sense of what they want, the long-term cost of these decisions becomes an abstract idea rather than a tangible loss.

What I find fascinating is that when people take the time to identify what genuinely makes them happy, it’s often much simpler—and cheaper—than they expect. I’ve done this for myself, paying attention to the moments that bring me joy. A good night’s sleep, a little caffeine, time outside, exercise, journaling, and meaningful conversations—those are the things that make my day fulfilling. None of them are expensive, but they bring me more happiness than I could’ve imagined.

If my day contains those things, I’m going to be happy. And at most, we’re looking at $5 for coffee. Even then, I could spend a dollar if I didn’t care about how good the coffee is. Then it hits me—what am I even investing for?

The reality is, though, that people who save more money tend to do better. They’re better prepared to meet both their current and future needs and wants. While what we want might change over time, it’s one thing to realize your desires are inexpensive and another to realize they're costly and wish you had prepared better.

So, my advice is twofold: First, actually figure out what you want. My guess is you won’t. You’ll probably read this and think, “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that someday.” But if you’re not going to do that, have a conversation with me. I’ll ask you some questions that’ll help get to the heart of it—and as a bonus for me, it will be a meaningful conversation (and as we now know, those make me happy).

The second thing is to save more money. Save enough so that you don’t find yourself 30 years down the line, realizing the thing that gives you the most joy is your grandkids, but you can’t afford to buy them anything because you spent money on stuff you didn’t really want, all because you didn’t take the time to understand what you truly want.

So, I’ll ask you again: What do you want?